


Denial

by OneWithoutAName



Series: Thieves AU [3]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, First Kiss, First Time, Hurt Charles, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Violence, it's not even funny anymore, nothing graphic though, okay it's quite funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:56:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9322517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneWithoutAName/pseuds/OneWithoutAName
Summary: The story of their first ordered job. Simple enough, but how will it go when Erik is fighting with his feelings towards Charles?Note: Charles is 17, Erik 21, so slight underage, but nothing graphic really.Rating is somewhere between T and M because of the violence.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place between part 1 and 2.  
> The first time is more mentioned than anything else, so if you are here searching for smut, you’ll be disappointed. I’ve never written smut so, I didn’t even try.  
> Not betad, all mistakes are mine. (But hopefully there’s not so many of them.)

**Late summer, 1868**

 

There was no escape from it. No matter how much Erik tried to deny it, he had feelings for Charles. Charles, his friend, his brother all but in blood, his partner in crime, only family he had left in this world, the one he had sworn to protect with his life. And all that was dangerously close to fall apart because of these stupid feelings of his.

 

If someone asked, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when this had happened. Mostly because it hadn’t been like a thunderbolt from the clear sky, no, these feelings had crept to his heart slowly, taking their time. Erik had always liked Charles, they were a great team and they understood each other. There was nothing Erik wasn’t ready to do for the younger boy. Well, a man now. And maybe that was the problem. Charles wasn’t a boy anymore. He had grown dramatically after he turned seventeen a few months ago. He was still shorter than Erik, who had started to grow to his full height four years earlier and made Charles little jealous, and had somewhat boyish face, but he slowly gained more muscle over his bones and his voice was lower now. He was definitely more a man than a boy now.

 

Erik assumed that the reason that he hadn’t had a problem before was their slight age difference of three years. When he had been on his early teens, Charles had been still a child and on his late teens the telepath had still seemed really young. Only now, Charles seemed to be catching up. God was he catching up… For the past few weeks Erik had caught himself with less than innocent thoughts about his friend. Thoughts that ignited from smallest things like Charles saying his name, patting him on the shoulder or just from drinking water, verdammt. He couldn’t help it but think how it would feel to kiss those sinfully red lips. What beautiful noises he could make. What was the taste of his soft pale skin. How would it feel to have his smaller body squirming under his own… Erik cut those thoughts yet again, slamming his hand on the table in frustration.

 

His breathing sounded too loud in the small apartment and his trousers felt slightly too tight. Erik put down the knife he had been using to cut the fish for dinner and leaned against the kitchen table. Thank goodness Charles was still at work. It had been necessary for one of them to get a proper job so no one would get suspicious how they could afford to pay their rent and food. Erik did sometimes small lifting jobs on the train station, but Charles had managed to get established job as a clerk in a small shipping company. The payment wasn’t that great, but that was why they had their unofficial job as thieves.

 

Erik looked at the small clock on the shelf. Charles would be home soon, he had no time to take a cold bath. He would have to get rid of the bulk in his pants in traditional way. Preferably not thinking about Charles, but some faceless brunet with pale skin and freckles. Erik let out a heavy sigh. He was so fucked.

 

It had been enough struggle to come in terms that he preferred men. All the fear of ending up in prison or being sentenced to death had made his life a living hell. Even Charles didn’t know about it, even if he didn’t hate Erik after that, their friendship could never be the same. So it was better to keep it to himself. He didn’t, however, care of the threats of burning in hell. Even if there was a place like that in afterlife, he would end up in there anyway.

 

After taking care of himself, Erik quickly cleaned the evidence and continued cooking. He also fortified his mental walls so Charles wouldn’t know about his thoughts or what he had done. He didn’t usually keep his shields so high and strong, but lately he had no other choice. Living with a telepath wasn’t always easy. Luckily, mental shields were something that Charles had taught him to do from the very start.

 

It didn’t even take five minutes when Charles was back home, projecting excitement in waves.

“Erik! You have no idea what happened on my way here.” Charles said as he walked to Erik. The older man just glanced his smiling face before turning his attention back to the fish on the frying pan. Charles was wearing his working clothes, a little worn outfit of a dress shirt, a vest, tweed pants and jacket. Made him look more professional.

“Well why don’t you tell me, what happened.” Erik said and wondered what had made Charles so pumped. Maybe it had something to do with science, or maybe there was some kind of cute animal that Charles now wanted to adopt. Wouldn’t be the first time.

 

“I got us a client.” Charles said, pride on his voice and Erik turned to look at him with a frown.

“A client?” He asked, not fully understanding where Charles was going with this. Charles nodded and kept smiling.

“Well, I was walking just around the corner when I heard this one man’s thoughts. He was sitting on a patio of this one bar and was thinking where to find somebody to do little break-in for him. So I went and sat with him and with a little nudge with my telepathy he told me everything and hired us for the job.” Charles told and Erik moved the pan away from the stove.

“So you just told this some random guy that we are thieves?” He asked, voice tense. He didn’t like this idea. Charles’ smile faltered and he frowned.

“Well, I was much more discreet than that.” He sounded offended, Erik had no idea why. If someone should be feeling offended it was him.

“You should have asked from me first. I thought we were a team.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest and turned around so he was properly facing Charles. Maybe it was all the tension that he had had these couple of weeks, but he really felt his patience run thin.

“Of course we are! Why would you even- Ah, doesn’t matter. I just took the chance while I had it. I’m sorry that I didn’t ask your opinion, but we’ve done break-ins before. This is nothing different.”

“But this is, Charles! This is different in every way!” Erik yelled and before Charles could say anything he continued. “Right now there’s a witness. He knows your face! He can report us to police whenever he wants to!”

“I’m not stupid, Erik!” Charles shouted back, anger burning behind his eyes. “I read his mind, he won’t tell anything because he needs help!”

 

They were glaring at each other and Erik tried to calm himself. This wasn’t anything new. They had been fighting a lot lately. Sometimes about the smallest things, sometimes about bigger things, but both of them seemed to be on edge all the time. Two weeks ago it had been extraordinarily bad. Erik had fought with the feelings for Charles and the younger man had reached for him mentally, asking if something was wrong. Erik had panicked and shouted “Stay out of my head!” Charles had looked like Erik had punched him. They ended up shouting at each other and finally Erik had just taken his jacket and left. He had walked for an hour or so before he was ready to go back. He had apologized, Charles forgave him, but after that, Charles hadn’t used his powers in any way with Erik. Somehow it made Erik feel both relieved and hurt.

 

“What if the police interrogates him? They can make him talk and I don’t want to end up in jail.” Erik asked and pinched his nose. He didn’t say it aloud, but the idea of Charles behind the bars was even more dreadful. He tried to keep his voice calm and his friend seemed to be ready to stop shouting too.

“I can use my powers so he won’t remember my face. I’m pretty sure I can manage that if I can concentrate long enough.” He suggested, but Erik still wasn’t convinced. The risk of getting caught was tiny when they had done this until now, just two of them, but with clients it was only a matter of time until someone let something slip. Apparently Charles noticed that he still didn’t like the idea.

“Please Erik. I can’t back up now. He already paid me the half of the reward.” The younger man said and took a small purse out of his pocket, handing it towards Erik who took it warily. It was surprisingly heavy and when he opened it his eyebrows shot up. That was a nice amount of money. “I know right.” Charles said and Erik let out a sigh. He could say no, but something told him that Charles would do this even without him and he wouldn’t allow that.

 

“So what the man wants us to steal?” He asked and Charles gave him a sly smile.

 

…

 

The story of the man was simple enough. He had ran out of money and had, while being drunk, paid his gambling debts with a silver locket. The locket belonged to his wife and he couldn’t go back home without it. The man had tried to buy it back from the owner of the gambling den, Mr. Tash, but for one reason or another, Mr. Tash didn’t want to sell it back.

 

“I told him that we would get it tomorrow night. We can go and check the gambling den tonight and form a plan. He will travel back home the next morning.” Charles explained as they ate. If someone asked Erik, the man should just suffer the consequences of his foolish actions. But he had already agreed to this, so he just had to deal with it.

“We can go and figure out the situation, but if it seems too risky you will go and give the money back.” Erik told, maybe there was still a chance to avoid this. Charles narrowed his eyes slightly.

“And who is to decide what is too risky?” He asked and Erik had to restrain the urge to roll his eyes.

“I think we know it when we see it.” he answered and the telepath just hummed, the atmosphere remaining tense.

 

…

 

“Well, they’re not going to let me inside.” Erik grunted as they eyed the gambling den on the other side of the road. He was well aware of his family roots and what the most people thought about them. An upper class place like Mr. Tash’s gambling den wouldn’t let Erik even sweep their floors.

“We don’t have to go inside. We just need to find the owner and then I’ll read his mind to know where the locket is.” Charles said beside him, also eyeing the building.

“And how are we going to find him without going inside? Are you just going to jump from mind to mind until you come across him?” Erik asked and Charles bit his lip.

“Well…” He said slowly and Erik groaned.

“You got to be kidding me. You have no idea how long that will take and if you get one of your headaches then how are we supposed to steal anything tomorrow night?” He hissed through his teeth.

 

He tried to keep his arguments in professional matters. In reality, he was more concerned about Charles’ wellbeing than the job in hand. On their early days someone had seen Erik using his powers and stalked him for days before he tried to blackmail them with his knowledge. He ended up unconscious on the ground rather quickly. Erik had wanted to kill him, but Charles wouldn’t let him do that. Instead he had erased all the memories the man had about Erik. It had taken almost an hour and after that the telepath had fainted too. Obviously, the older boy had panicked. Luckily it hadn’t lasted long, but after that the younger boy had suffered from an intense headache for days. He hadn’t been able to move and he couldn’t drink or eat almost anything without vomiting it all back up soon. The incident had made Erik to make sure that Charles didn’t overdo it ever again.

 

Suddenly there were loud exited voices on the other side of the road.

“Dear Mr. Tash, how are you?” A middle aged man who was climbing up the stairs asked looking at a man who was smiling widely.

“Mr. Munson, it’s been too long.” The men shook hands as they continued talking, the words now too quiet for Erik or Charles to hear, but it didn’t matter, they had found their target. Erik glanced at Charles who smiled at him.

“Well, sometimes things work up just fine.” He said before closed his eyes and put two fingers to his temple for focus.

 

Erik eyed their surroundings, making sure that no one paid attention to them, before he turned his eyes back to the telepath. He had a slight frown on his face, a mark of a concentration, and bitten lips were pressed together. If Erik looked really carefully he was able to notice how the telepath’s eyes moved under the eyelids, like he was in deep sleep. In the light of streetlamp he looked even paler than usual, but not in a bad way. It was a bit strange that no matter how long Charles spent on the sun, he never seemed to get any tan. Sometimes he got sunburns, but he never tanned. His freckles had darkened over the summer though and formed a clear bridge over his nose. The nose that, Erik just noted, had also grown bigger. He liked it, it made the younger man look adorable.

 

Erik felt his heart flutter and realized that he had been staring his friend far too long to not to be suspicious. He turned his head sharply and took a long steadying breath. He was a grown man goddamn it! Why it was so hard to keep his feelings in check? Why was he adoring his friend’s nose? His nose of all things! It was good that Charles was right now inside Mr. Tash’s mind and couldn’t overhear his thoughts. At least they weren’t as graphic as earlier today. It wasn’t like he was thinking about pulling the telepath away from the street to the alley, away from the view, push him against the wall, pin him down and ravish that sinful mouth, run his hands all over that smaller body and-

 

“Erik?” A hand touched his upper arm and Erik jerked away from it, turning to look at Charles who raised his hands in calming way. His eyes though betrayed his otherwise neutral expression, he was upset by Erik’s reaction. But Erik didn’t have any other choice, Charles’ powers got more powerful if he had some kind of physical contact, and he had no intension to let the telepath find out about his thoughts towards him.

“What?” Erik was surprised how steady his voice came out. Charles eyed him thoughtfully before he answered.

“I said that I know where Mr. Tash keeps the locket.”

 

…

 

“So, we still have an hour or so to ourselves. What would you like to do?” Charles asked next evening after they had washed the dishes. They had to wait for the busiest time in the gambling den, so they could be sure that the owner was not in his office where he kept the locket.

“I don’t know really.” Erik answered as he dried his hands with a rag. He forbade himself of thinking what things they could do within that hour. His mind would slip, like it always did these days. Charles looked thoughtful, his fingers tapped the table like he was nervous of something.

“It has been long time since we played chess.” The younger man shrugged and the sentence made Erik frown.

“It has, hasn’t it.” He said and nodded with a small smile that Charles mirrored before he stood up and fetched the board.

 

Erik sat down, opposite to Charles, and helped him to arrange the pieces so they could begin the game. Charles had taught him how to play. Their first chessboard was lines drawn to ground and the pieces were nails that Erik had, a little clumsily, melted and twisted to resemble real chess pieces. He had figured the game quickly enough and actually enjoyed it. It had somewhat calming effect on him, made him forget the real world for a moment. Or, maybe, it was just his opponent.

“You go first.” Charles said when the game was set and the game could begin.

 

They sat in silence for a moment and soon it started to feel awkward. Suddenly Erik wanted to say something, anything, to make it go away.

“So…” He started and Charles lifted his blue gaze towards him. “How’s the work?” Was the first thing that made it through, could have been better, but could also have been something worse. The telepath looked surprised, but took the bait.

“Good, I think. But I think that I’ve gotten enough office gossip for the rest of my life.” Charles let out a small laugh, sounding melodic in Erik’s ears.

“Really? Like what?” He encouraged the other man to keep talking as he moved his rook.

“But Erik, I didn’t see you as a gossiping like man.” Charles teased and Erik coughed to his fist, but before he could say anything to deny the claim the younger man kept talking on bored tone. “It’s not even that interesting really. What their neighbors did or didn’t do, who got lucky on Friday night, things like that.”

“Not everyone can have as exiting life as we have.” Erik said smirking. “And even if they did, I don’t think that they would be ready to gossip about it.”

“True, it is strange how boring ordinary lives seem to be and even their tales are usually way exaggerated. I have to admit that sometimes I peek to see how much is really true. Sometimes I feel bad for invading.”

“You shouldn’t for small things like that. It’s not like you’ve ever peeked in to my head to see my game strategy.” Erik teased and made Charles blush in shock.

“I did that once!” He tried to defend himself, but Erik just lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. “Okay, twice. But both times you deserved it.” Charles tried to act serious, but he couldn’t maintain his smile.

“Did I really?” Erik asked, amused and Charles nodded.

“Yes, both times you were being mean!” The smaller man accused and Erik threw his head back, laughing hard. Oh, how much he had missed this. This easy way of talking and just being with the other.

 

“Guilty as charged I guess.” He said when he finally managed to stop laughing. “But someone had to keep you on your toes. It’s dangerous to lose your mind for too long.” For that, Charles gave him a smile that seemed different from others he had ever seen.

“Well, I’m lucky to have you to do just that.” He said and Erik swallowed, his throat feeling suddenly dry and something in Charles’ expression made his heart beat faster. For a moment there was nothing but the two of them in the world. Fortunately he caught himself and turned his attention back to the chess board.

“It’s your turn.” He said and if his voice sounded little off, Charles didn’t say anything about it.

 

…

 

They stood the opposite side of the street from the gambling den, again. It was just past midnight, the busiest time for it. There were men talking just outside of the facility, but otherwise the area was empty from people.

“Last chance to back out.” Erik grunted.

“Not going to happen, I promised him that we get the locket and that’s what we’re going to do.” Charles said firmly, that stubborn bastard, too much pride in so small body.

“One can always hope.” Erik said and the telepath shook his head, but even in the low light of the night Erik was able to see a smile on his lips.

“We have to go in through the back door.” He ignored Erik’s sarcastic ‘what, no, really?’ and just kept talking. “We will get to the office unnoticed, take the locket and get out. Fast and effective. Did I forget something?”

“The point where everything goes horribly wrong?” Erik said, rising one eye brow and received unamused glare for that.

“Always so optimistic. Shall we?” Erik took one last deep breath to sharpen his focus before he nodded.

“Let’s go.”

 

They covered their faces to nose with scarves and circled to the other side of the gambling den, making sure they kept in the shadows. They took all time they needed to make sure no one saw them, they were not in a hurry. The well-known concentration filled Erik’s mind. It was welcomed change from the love sick thoughts he normally had. He had a proper goal and he had to keep his mind alert to achieve it. That said, he was constantly aware exactly where Charles was.

 

Finally they made it to the back door unnoticed. Erik looked at Charles who nodded, confirming that it was safe to break in. Reaching out with his powers and with a small, slow, twist of his wrist the lock clicked and the door opened, revealing a dark hallway and stairs. Nothing moved, it was silent. Slowly, Erik walked in, keeping an eye for some kind of trap, but there was nothing. Charles followed him close on his heels and closed the door, making it become even darker.

 _‘The office is upstairs.’_ Charles said mentally, no talking while on work, and Erik led them forwards up the stairs. He listened carefully, in case of someone approaching them, but only thing he could hear was muffled sounds of the gambling area.

 

 _‘It’s the last door’_ Charles informed when they were on the top of the stairs. Erik nodded and tried the said door. Locked. Not very long. With a slight movement of his wrist the problem was solved and they were able to go inside. It was not as dark inside the office that it had been on the hallway, a window letting some light in. The office was tidy, bookshelves along both walls, a massive dark desk in the middle of the room. There was even a fireplace, but it was not lit.

 _‘According to the Mr. Tash’s mind the locket is supposed to be-‘_ The thought Charles had been sending stopped suddenly and Erik turned to look at his partner in crime. The telepath had distant look in his eyes, his head turned to the left.

 _‘Charles?’_ Erik asked frowning and the smaller man turned to look back at him.

 _‘Someone is coming.’_ His voice sounded calm, but Erik could feel anguish coming in waves from him. Erik cursed in his mind. He knew it! He knew that this had been a bad idea!

 

Suddenly, Charles’ expression turned resolute and he looked Erik straight to the eye.

 _‘The locket is somewhere in the desk’s drawers. You find it, I’ll take care of the man outside.’_ The telepath said and turned on his heels to leave, but Erik grabbed him by his arm and stopped him.

 _‘Like hell I’m letting you go alone!’_ He said, but Charles gave him so fierce look that he almost let go. Almost.

 _‘Be rational Erik. I don’t even have to go near him to take him out. You know I can take care of myself.’_ To confirm his words he sent Erik a memory of three drunken man falling unconsciously to the ground. First time Erik had seen Charles using his powers. _‘Do you trust me?’_ The telepath asked, still holding the eye contact. In the low light his eyes seemed deep like an ocean. Deep and dangerous.

 _‘I do.’_ Erik said and let go of his friend’s arm. _‘Just, be careful.’_ He added and Charles nodded firmly before walking fast, but silently, downstairs.

 

Erik looked how he disappeared from his view before he darted to investigate the desk. He found out that the said desk had way too many drawers. He searched the left side for the locket, nothing, just papers and writing supplies. On the right side, he noticed, one of the drawers was locked. This could be good. The lock was simpler than those on the doors and opened without much effort. Inside the drawer were bunches of money and a small wooden box, inside it Erik could feel something metallic. He opened the box and there was beautiful, shiny silver locket, outside of it had been carved some kind of flower and a letter H. The chain wasn’t silver though, it was made of something else, because Erik was able to feel it. He didn’t know why, but for some reason he could feel only specific metals. Erik pocketed the locket and after a small pause he took a bunch of cash too. Just a small bonus. He locked the drawer, time to head back home-

 _‘Erik…’_ Came strained, weak voice in his head and Erik felt his heart stop.

 _‘Charles!’_ He shouted in his mind, trying to reach the telepath, but there was no answer.

 

The metalbender had never ran so fast in his life. He left the office door open but he didn’t care, he paid no attention to his surroundings, he didn’t care. Only one thought had room in his mind. Find Charles! He jerked the backdoor open and stepped to the alley. The sight in front of him made him freeze. There was one man on the ground, unconscious, but there was another man, pressing unmasked Charles against the wall so the telepath’s feet didn’t touch the ground, strangling him. Charles’ one hand was trying to unloose the fingers around his neck, the other hand holding one of his attacker’s wrists. His struggle was weak though and almost the same time as Erik had arrived, his eyes closed and his hands dropped limp to his sides.

 

It felt like the time slowed down. Erik heard himself shout in desperation, fear and anger. The man turned to look at him, surprise in his eyes. Only thing Erik saw was red. Without thinking, he reached out with his powers, summoning the chain of the locket and made it fly through the air. The man didn’t have time to react, no time to scream or shout. The chain lashed onto his neck and pressed against him so hard it drew blood. The man let go of Charles and tried to get the chain away from him. The movement made Charles fall to the ground. He didn’t breathe. Erik felt sudden coldness as he looked his friend’s unmoving body. No… This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening! The man let out a wheezing noise and Erik felt an uncontrollable wave of rage.

“You.” He said with low voice and tightened the chain’s grip of the man’s throat. “You did this.” He lifted the man up with his powers, so his legs couldn’t touch the ground. Right now, Erik felt stronger than ever before. Invincible. The man looked at him with terror.

“De- demon…” He rasped with remaining air he had, struggling against the hold and Erik drew more power from it as he moved the chain against the abused skin, cutting the man’s artery. The man was shaking and Erik let him fall to the ground, leaving him there to die. It was the first time he had taken a life. He felt nothing.

 

The anger left his body and made now room for fear. He rushed to Charles’ side and tried to find a pulse. There was none.

“No…” Broken syllable escaped from his lips as he lowered his scarf away from his face. Charles wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. “Charles. Charles! Please, wake up. You must wake up!” He cried, tears falling to his cheeks. He lifted the smaller man’s limp body to his arms, cradling it, holding his head under his chin. There was some blood on the back of his head, gluing dark hair together. “Charles… Please…” He couldn’t talk anymore, his throat felt raw and all sentences fell apart before he could say them. Why did this happen? Did the faith really hate him enough to take Charles away from him? His bright and beautiful Charles…

 _‘We promised each other Charles. Don’t you remember? We promised that we would never need to be alone again. Please, Charles, don’t leave me alone. I can’t go on without you.’_ Erik thought, his head buried in Charles hair, tears making it damp. _‘Don’t leave me alone…’_

 

Suddenly there was wheezing inhale and Erik’s eyes shot open. He felt Charles coughing and gasping for air. He moved in instinct, making the smaller man lean slightly forward and rubbing small circles on his back.

“Deep breaths Charles. Deep breaths.” He heard himself to say in weak voice, but his mind was still catching up what was happening. Charles’ one hand gripped the front of the metalbender’s shirt and  the other was kept close to his chest. Erik covered the hand on his shirt with his own and slowly Charles’ breaths started to ease.

“What happened?” The telepath rasped out and made Erik’s mind come back to reality. Charles was alive, he wasn’t dead.

 

Instead of answering, Erik put his arms around the smaller man’s frame and embraced him, but making sure not to hurt him.

“I thought I lost you.” He said, voice barely above a whisper, but his mind was screaming. Thank god you’re alive. Couldn’t go on without you. You’re everything to me. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I was supposed to protect you. Please forgive me. _I love you._  He was sure that Charles was able to feel all those thoughts and emotions but he couldn’t care less right now. A small breathless _oh_ , was just audible in the night and soon Erik felt two arms wrap around his middle.

 _‘I’m sorry I worried you. I’m sorry this happened. I- I love you too. Please don’t hate me.’_ Charles said to his mind and Erik was sure his heart was about to burst out of his chest because of all these emotions. Could this be real? Maybe he had also died and this was the afterlife.

“I could never hate you Charles. Never.” Erik said aloud and drew away a bit. The movement made Charles look up, eyes wide, their lips so close. Without hesitation, Erik closed the small gap between them and brought their lips together to a gentle kiss. Too long he had forbidden this from himself, from them both. Charles’ lips were soft and perfect. He tasted like tea and something sweet. It was intoxicating.

 

The kiss wasn’t long and too soon they parted, but Charles breathed heavily, still not fully recovered from his near death experience. Besides, they were not safe here, they needed to get away before anybody else found them.

“Do you think you can stand?” Erik asked, a little guilty that he couldn’t give Charles more time to recover, but they needed to go.

“I think so.” Charles answered and started to get up while Erik held him steady. He didn’t make it wholly up though when he froze, his eyes wide with shock. Erik followed his line of sight and understood. Charles was looking at the dead man on the pool of blood, the chain still around his neck.

“Erik… What did you do?” The younger man’s voice was shaky, his eyes never left the body.

“Charles, look at me.” Erik said, but Charles didn’t move an inch. “Charles, please, look at me.” He said again and now cupped the telepaths both cheeks and turned him away from the dead man. “This changes nothing. We need to get away from here.” He kept his voice steady and firm, trying to get through the shock he could see in Charles’ eyes.

“You killed- Erik why? You didn’t have to-“

“Yes, I did, Charles. He almost killed you. I have no remorse.” Erik said. Charles opened his mouth, like he was about to argue, but closed it then again taking couple deep breaths instead.

 

“So, what are we going to do with them?” Charles asked and nodded towards the men on the ground, but didn’t look at them. Erik thought for a moment, before he took the bunch of money he had taken from the office.

“We leave this here and the police thinks that the dead one tried to steal it, but lucky for the owner the other one stopped him.” He explained his plan. Not the best, but there was no way they could move the heavy body around without being caught. Charles nodded.

“I could make him think he really did it.” He suggested, but Erik wasn’t sure about that.

“Are you really up to it?” He asked, but Charles looked at him firmly.

“I just plant the idea on his mind. He does everything else.” He said and finally, Erik nodded and helped him up to the unconscious man. The telepath put his hand to the man’s temple and closed his eyes, small frown of concentration appearing on his face. Erik didn’t look away from him, watching for any signs of pain or distress. But there was none and soon Charles nodded to him. They could go home.

 

…

 

When they got back to their apartment, Erik checked the injury on Charles’ head, there was a small wound, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore. A small bump was forming there, but otherwise he seemed fine, he didn’t feel sick or dizzy. Before Erik could even suggest that maybe it would still be better for him to lay down, Charles was up and on his toes, lips crashing against Erik’s. Those thoughts flew out of his head as he responded to the heated kiss, holding the smaller body tightly against his. All the tension and restless energy released as they stumbled towards Charles’ bed, losing their clothing on the way. Erik had dreamed and fantasized of this moment more times than he could count. The reality was much different, it was clumsy and desperate, yet perfect because it was still Charles with him and Erik let himself get lost in the moment.

 

Afterwards, they were laying on the bed together and holding each other close. Erik on his back and Charles tugged to his side, head resting on his shoulder and drawing patterns on the taller man’s chest. The cover was drawn over their waists.

“You want to know what happened.” Charles said, breaking the serene silence between them. It wasn’t a question, just a plain statement.

“It can wait.” Erik assured, the night had been long and he could wait for the answers, but Charles bit his lip, moving little restlessly.

“It might be better if I do it now. That is, if you don’t mind.” Erik could feel threads of anxiety coming from the smaller man as he spoke and understood that this was something he had to before he could go on. He stroked Charles’ shoulder gently and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Of course. As long as you want to.” Charles gave him a thankful smile and after a deep breath he started to tell what had happened after he had gone down the stairs.

 

The man who he had heard coming had been one of hired guards of the place. He had been doing his usual round. Charles had made him fall a deep sleep, but unfortunately, the man had seen him before he had succeeded.

“I had to erase it from his mind. You said it before, we can’t have any witnesses, and he might have been able to recognize me, if he saw me again.”

 

So Charles had had to walk to the man, so he could remove himself from the man’s memories. He had been too occupied with that, he hadn’t felt or heard the other guard. That was, until the telepath had been wrenched away and before he could react his head hit the wall, the impact making him dizzy. The man had taken a hold of his throat and lifted him up, trapping him against the wall.

“I tried to fight him, but everything was foggy. I couldn’t reach for my powers to make him let go. I was terrified, my limbs became heavy and all I could do was to try to call you, hoping that you would hear me.” Erik tightened his hold of the younger man, cherishing the fact that he was still here, safe and alive. It had been too close, mere seconds more and he would have been too late.

 

“I feel so stupid. I should have paid attention to my surroundings, made sure that no one was close! But I was a fool. I wanted to show you that I’m not a burden to you, that I could take care of myself. I guess I did just the opposite.” Erik looked down at Charles, but the telepath didn’t meet his gaze, staring at the wall with a sad face that made Erik frown.

“Why would you think that you are a burden?” He asked and Charles gave him a flat smile.

“You’ve always been ahead of me in everything. It’s hard to not to compare and… Lately you have been so distant, I thought that maybe you didn’t want me around anymore. You’ve been the only family I’ve had and I couldn’t go on if you left me.” Erik’s heart filled with pure adoration towards the man beside him. How he was ready to lower all his defenses and trusting him not to use it against him.

“Oh Charles, you don’t give yourself enough credit. _You_ taught me how to read and count and how to play chess. You’ve saved my life many times and showed me that I don’t have to be alone.” Erik caressed Charles’ cheek, feeling a bit nervous. “The only reason I kept my distance was because I was afraid of the feelings I had for you. I was afraid that you would leave me, that you would have been disgusted by me.”

 

Lighthearted laugh escaped from Charles and when Erik looked him quizzically he waved his hand.

“We’ve been two love-struck and blind idiots it seems.” The comment made Erik chuckle, it was true. “How long?” It took a moment for Erik to understand what exactly Charles meant and when he did he felt a sheepish smile sneaking its way to his face.

“Couple of months now. Since you got some height.” He poked Charles good-naturedly to his side and the smaller man let out a surprised squeak before he shoved the hand away, but his smile didn’t go away.

“Well in that case, you got the long straw then.”

“It wasn’t that easy, I can tell you. Have you ever tried to keep a secret around a telepath?” Erik defended himself.

“No, I can’t say I have.” Charles shrugged and nuzzled affectionately the taller man’s collarbone. It made him look like a cat in Erik’s opinion.

“But tell me, how long have you had feelings for me?” He asked. If the telepath had thought that he had gotten the long straw, he was rather curious to know what the short one was. The question made a soft red color rise on the smaller man’s cheeks.

“Five years, more or less.” Charles said sheepishly.

“Wow.” Erik breathed out, completely dumbstruck. He really had gotten away easily. He wouldn’t have survived that long with the feelings that had consumed him from the inside. He didn’t know what surprised him most, the fact that Charles had had feelings for him that long or the fact that he hadn’t noticed anything.

“Oh, don’t sound so surprised! I mean, is it really that strange? You’ve always been good looking, you are only friend I’ve ever had, I trust you completely and with you I feel safe.” Charles’ voice faded away as he talked, starting out strong, but being just a whisper in the end. The words warmed Erik’s heart.

“You must be the only one who thinks that. And to be honest, I actually might prefer it that way. Your opinion is the only one that matters to me.” He said, sealing the statement with a kiss and felt Charles’ affection, love and warmness wash over him in waves.

 

…

 

Next morning they met their client on the train station. The young man was overly delighted when he got the silver locket back, even if the chain was missing.

“Thank you gentlemen. Thank you! You have saved my marriage, maybe even my life.” Erik was just able to resist the urge to punch the man in the face. Because of his stupidity one of them almost lost his life! But instead he just glared the man and by the look of it, their client got the message if his faltering smile and retreating step were anything to go by. The change didn’t escape Charles notice and soon Erik heard very angry telepath in his head.

 _‘Erik! Behave yourself!’_ The remark made him only smirk slightly and Charles spoke, aloud this time. “We’re happy to hear that you are pleased. Now, the rest of the payment, please.” He offered his hand and the man seemed to relax again. Was it because of Charles’ kind voice or telepathy, Erik didn’t know.

“Oh, yes. Yes, of course.” The man fiddled his pockets before he found a small purse. “Here you go.” He said as he gave the purse to Charles who peeked inside it and then nodded smiling.

“Everything seems to be in order. Goodbye, Mr. Harlow, it was a pleasure.”

“Yes, goodbye gentlemen. I have a train to catch. Thank you.” And with that, the man turned and walked away.

 

Charles stood still, two fingers on his temple as he blurred their figures on Mr. Harlow memory. It didn’t take as much effort as erasing them altogether and soon he turned to Erik.

“So, home?” He asked, but Erik just looked towards the train tracks an idea forming in his mind.

“What would you say if we just took a train?” He asked turning to face Charles, who looked at him with puzzlement.

“I don’t understand? You mean, like vacation?”

“More like leaving the town.” Erik answered, making Charles look even more lost.

“Move away? Where? Why?” He asked, a small smile tugging his lips upwards.

“Anywhere. Let’s just choose a train and go as far as we can. Start all over. We have the money.” Erik gestured the small purse. Honestly, he didn’t know where this all was springing from. He just thought that this job, their new relationship, it all deserved a new beginning.

“And when we find someplace nice, what then?” Charles asked, smiling fully now, excitement sparkling in his eyes. It was the same excitement Erik felt inside.

“We’ll build a hideout and start doing this as a full-time job. Test our limits, make the police look like a fool as they try to figure out how we did it. Live safe without being afraid that we’ll be arrested because of our lifestyle. Just, be free. Would you like that?” He wouldn’t force Charles. This plan was for both of them and as much as Erik wanted to leave, he wanted Charles’ happiness more.

 

The telepath looked carefully at Erik’s eyes, like he was searching something. The older man held the eye contact and kept his mind open for Charles, feeling his warm presence there. A bright smile spread across Charles’ face as he answered.

“Yeah. I would like that very much.”

**Author's Note:**

> How Charles managed to wake up from the dead, you may ask. He’s a Marvel character, that’s why! They tend to do that. Maybe Erik saved him somehow using the iron in his blood or something. XP  
> Not my best work, some parts were really hard to write and took way more time than they should have. Maybe it showed, but hopefully didn’t ruin your reading experience.  
> Thank you so much for reading!


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